Chocolate can indeed be an interest for some of us (and we know who we are) so you will be delighted to know that Chocolate is a traditional crop in Bocas del Toro, one of Panama's province. And why shouldn't chocolate be an interest? After all, it contains all of the natural cocoa butter (which we are convinced will soon be reclassified as an "essential fat") and a good deal of the theobromine-rich shell. Theobromine is a stimulant, and contributes to the drug-like induced wellness feeling that chocolate is renowned for.
The native people in Bocas use the cacao as part of the wedding celebration. The cacao is roasted and crushed whole, (shell and all), then prepared into a drink that when mixed with their cane liquor, has the kick that legends are made of….In small amounts, an effective aphrodisiac; in greater amounts, a hallucinogen.
In Panama, the farms producing cacao sell their dried beans to a nationally run marketing cooperative. Panamanian certified organic cacao is exported worldwide and is made into some of the finest chocolate in the world.
In Bocas del Toro, the Chocolate Shop, located at the Hotel la Veranda, produces some mouth-wateringly good chocolate bars. Their chocolate is processed by methods used for centuries: After the fruit pods are harvested, the seeds are separated from the white fruit pulp. The seeds, or beans, are then fermented for 7 days. Fermentation is essential for full bodied aromatic chocolate flavour. The beans are then roasted slowly in a big pot over an open fire. Over, or under-roasting will produce bad tasting chocolate. The roasted bean is then cracked and the husk is removed manually or blown off by tossing it to the wind . The "nibs" of chocolate are then ground with a grain grinder many times, then formed into balls. Balls are grated into a fine powder and in the Caribbean, most commonly used in a hot chocolate drink. The cacao used by the Chocolate Shop is grown on a plantation in "Dark Land" (Tierra Oscura) which is located on the main land, a half-hour boat ride from Bocas town.
The Chocolate Shop's bars are made from whole organic locally grown cacao, toasted coconut from Bastimentos Island, milk, sugar and vanilla. As is the case with any fine hand-crafted product, each batch of chocolate is different, which begs for constant quality-control tasting!! A chocolate afficionado's visit to Bocas del Toro will not be complete without a stop at the Chocolate Shop to appreciate the amount of energy it takes to prepare this rare natural chocolate.

Javier is holding a 15-lb chunk of raw cacao